BUSINESS NEWS DIGEST | Deutsche Bank sued in mortgage fraud

Deutsche Bank sued in mortgage fraud

NEW YORK

The federal government sued Deutsche Bank on Tuesday, saying the bank committed fraud and padded its pockets with undeserved income as it repeatedly lied so it could benefit from a government program that insured mortgages.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims that the government has had to pay when homeowners defaulted on their mortgages. The lawsuit also asked for punitive damages. The government said the bank made substantial profits between 2007 and 2009 from the resale of the risky mortgages, leaving the government to foot the bill for loans that defaulted.

New Sears CEO vows improvements

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.

Sears’ new CEO pledged Tuesday to help turn around the ailing retailer by relying on its core brands such as Craftsman and Lands’ End and being smarter about marketing to customers.

Louis D’Ambrosio told shareholders at Sears Holding Corp.’s annual meeting that improving the company’s long-sagging clothing business will be a priority. He did not lay out a detailed plan for how to achieve that, although he cited strong hopes for two new clothing lines in particular: the Kardashian Collection, which debuts in August in 400 Sears stores, and Sofia Vergara, from the ABC comedy “Modern Family.”

NYC picks Nissan for its taxi fleet

NEW YORK

New York City’s iconic taxi fleet is getting a Japanese makeover.

City officials announced Tuesday that they had picked Nissan to supply the fleet for the next 10 years. The Japanese automaker beat out Ford Motor Co. and Karsan USA in a contest for the rights to anchor the fleet.

Nissan’s tall, boxy NV200 minivan already is in use as a taxi in some other parts of the globe.

This marks the first time New York City has worked directly with automakers to design its taxicab model.

Associated Press